Alcoholic Beverages on the NCL SUN?

[Sun&Soul]

We are going on the Sun on the 11th of March, but are kind of concerned about the alcohol situation.... so you can't even have your own alcohol in your room??? Can you bring any on board?? $7-9.00 drinks only?? I am kind of stressed about this.. HELP!:rolleyes:

[Don Haynes]

You can order a bar set up 15 days or more in advance of your cruise. Please search bar set up. While its still somewhat expensive, you will save considerably from the bars aboard.

 

Otherwise, you will have to bootleg booze aboard.

 

How many bars do you know at home allow anyone to bring booze into their establishment. NCL is not in the retail liquor business, they are in the bar business.

 

Keep in mind NCL has a reputation of an excellent booze police, only surpassed by Royal Caribbean lately.

[Rumncoke]

Stay away from the souvenir glasses and fancy martinis and you'll be fine. A perfectly decent rum & coke or any other well drink is under $6.

[Sun&Soul]

Really?? Thats what I needed to hear! Are thy really that strict about bringing your own alcohol on board? Do they really go through all of your luggage?

[LateCruiser]

Really?? Thats what I needed to hear! Are thy really that strict about bringing your own alcohol on board? Do they really go through all of your luggage?

 

It all gets x-rayed. I'm sure a few folks get away with a trick or two here and there, but by and large it does get caught.

[Don Haynes]

Yes, they are strict. But many have found ways to bootleg booze aboard. NCL scans every bag, and will hold suspicious bags in the naughty room. You will be informed to arrive at the naughty room if caught and open your bag for them to check if it is booze. Any booze found will be confisciated and held until the last night of the cruise, when you will probably pick it up.

 

From my experience, it is not so much the security personnel that are strict, its the bartending personnel who are. They see it as hurting their tips, which is most of their income.

[sandradeen]

Really?? Thats what I needed to hear! Are thy really that strict about bringing your own alcohol on board? Do they really go through all of your luggage?

Yes, they are strict about alcohol on board.

However, the drink prices are for the "drink of the day" with the souvenier glass. Try asking for the drink of the day without the glass...I believe it's $4-$5 that way?

[billeelou]

I have smuggled booze onto every single cruise, not caught yet...last time took almost 3 litres on board...not very difficult....:cool: And they didn't even ask about the two bottles of Rum I bought in Belize...( but they are still capped and in my liquor cabinet now.....)

[zman5]

When in doubt just buy a Helmet O' Beer thats a bargain at around 20 bucks

[Sun&Soul]

Give me tips on how to smuggle it onto the ship... I am a college student not wanting to pay for $7.00 drinks thw whole time

[KeystoneCruiser]

Give me tips on how to smuggle it onto the ship... I am a college student not wanting to pay for $7.00 drinks thw whole time

 

Its funny, everytime someone comes on here and gives "tips" on how to smuggle booze on board, we then get reports that NCL has now closed that loophole and look for it.

 

NCL does have people who read these boards too and love it when people tell their smuggling stories.

[jkloni]

Well, on the 2/18 Sun cruise we had lunch next to a couple that had booze confiscated from their checked bags. She had put it in a Listerine bottle. They called her to that naughty room and had her open it in front of them to ensure it was Listerine. Of course it wasn't and they held it for pick up at the end of the cruise. Another one in their group was called to so the luggage could be opened.....but..... they had confiscated the wrong piece of her luggage. The one they opened was clean. The one with the liquor in it was in her room :D .

 

When we were in Costa Maya I bought 12 can Coronas and 12 bottled Coronas for .85 cents US each at the little convenience store on the road out from the dock. When our bags (we had put it all in our beach bags) went thru the scanner while getting on board they stopped us. My husband pulled out a bag with 5 bottled Coronas and they confiscated that. We took the rest to the room. Only drank the bottles. Took the 12 can Coronas home with me. Can Coronas are very hard to find where I live and they are great for the beach.

 

 

Kathy

[beachchick]

You can order a bar set up 15 days or more in advance of your cruise. Please search bar set up. While its still somewhat expensive, you will save considerably from the bars aboard.

 

Otherwise, you will have to bootleg booze aboard.

 

How many bars do you know at home allow anyone to bring booze into their establishment. NCL is not in the retail liquor business, they are in the bar business.

 

Keep in mind NCL has a reputation of an excellent booze police, only surpassed by Royal Caribbean lately.

 

True, but a cruise ship is not just a bar. I don't want to bring my own alcohol into the ship bars. In fact, I'm fine with paying a corkage fee to bring my own wine into the restaurants--as I do at home. But when I stay at a resort or hotel, I am certainly allowed to bring my choice of beverages into my room. That's where the analogy should be. Cabin = hotel room; not cabin = bar.

 

I'm not saying NCL and the other cruise lines can't implement any alcohol rules they choose. Of course they can. Just don't defend it by comparing my cabin to a bar. That's apples to oranges.

 

beachchick

[Don Haynes]

Nor is a ship a hotel. Hotels don't have the fuel expenses, or the engineering plant. So a cabin doesn't necessarily equal a hotel room, a hotel room don't travel.

[beachchick]

Nor is a ship a hotel. Hotels don't have the fuel expenses, or the engineering plant. So a cabin doesn't necessarily equal a hotel room, a hotel room don't travel.

 

Right. But those items are supposed to be included in my fare. The cost of fuel, engineering, maintenance, crew, etc. and so forth are already paid for when I buy my cruise ticket. When I pay for a cruise, part of the money goes for my cabin, part for the ship costs, part for the travel costs, part for the port fees and taxes, part for the basic crew salaries, part for the food and beverages which are included.

 

Again, you cannot compare a cruise ship to any single land-based venue. The closest might be all-inclusive resorts. I am comparing my cabin, which is paid for with part of my cruise fare, with a hotel room. On a land-based trip, I would pay for various items individually: room, food, rental car and fuel or other transportation costs, entertainment, etc. On a cruise, I pay for these items as a lump sum.

 

It's still apples to apples to compare a ship cabin to a hotel room. I certainly wouldn't expect to bring liquor into a ship's bar any more than I would think of bringing it into a land-based bar. I would bring wine to the dining room and pay a corkage fee just as I would do at a land-based restaurant. The bottom line is that the cruise lines can make the rules, but we don't have to like them or find them logical/reasonable. The cruise lines know alcohol purchases are a fair portion of revenue and want to make sure that they get the most they can.

 

beachchick